Surgical drill attachment



March 24, 1959 H. T. TREACE 2,878,809

SURGICAL DRILL ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 23, 1958 INVENTOR.

BYHARRY T. TREACE United States Patent SURGICAL DRILL ATTACHMENT Harry T.

ards Manufacturing Company, v poration of Tennessee Application January 23, 1958, Serial No. 710,810

Claims. (Cl. 128-303) Memphis, Tenn., a cor- This invention relates to a surgical drill attachment adapted for use in surgery in certain interior portions ofthe ear.

The drill attachment of the present invention is directed towards providing means whereby surgery may be pering deep in the car can be appreciated when the narrow constriction in the ear is considered, coupled with the fact that heretofore known drills inserted into the ear opening would block the s'urgeons view from the operating area.

Therefore, one of the important objects of the present invention is to provide a surgical drill means for use in stapes surgery which does not obstruct the view of the surgeon, yet permits great accuracy of drilling.

vA further object is to provide a drill attachment including a casing having a bore extending the length thereof, a drill bit including a flexible elongated rod having a sharpened end portion, ceived in said bore with said end portion extending beyond Treace, Shelby County, Tenn., assignor to Richthe bone formation above 7 comprises a cylindrical head 17, an integrally formed vention, showing the drill bit in sharpened end portion of the drill bit.

Fig.6 is an end view on sharpened end portion of the drill bit.

Referring now to the parts are indicated by numerals, the drill attachment 11 of the present invention comprises, in general, a drill bit 13 best illustrated in Fig. 2 and a casing 15 best illustrated in Fig. 3.

Referring first more specifically to casing 15, the casing elongated neck 19 extending from one end of head 17,

which neck is tapered as at 21 downwardly from the juncture with the head to a portion of substantially 'uni- .form diameter, and an elongated barrel 23 fixedly at-. tached to neck 19 at the end remote from head 17.. though not necessarily, of mebarrel 23 being preferably at-j Casing 15 is preferably, tallic construction, with tached to neck 19 as by silver solder or the like. The

,outside diameter of barrel 23 is preferably less than the outside diameter of neck 19. Neck 19 is formed with viewed in Fig. 4--to bend 25 said bit being rotatably resaid casing, said casing including a main body portion and an end portion extending from said main body portion at an angle relative to the main body portion whereby during stapes surgery the line of sight of the surgeon sighting towards the operating area is unobstructed by said main body portion.

A further object is to provide a drill bit for a surgical drill comprising a shank, an elongated flexible rod attached to said shank adjacent one end thereof and extending therefrom, said rod being provided with a sharpened end portion remote from said shank, said sharpened end portion of said rod including a plurality of faces'disposed to form a substantially triangular-shaped point, adjacent pairs of said faces intersecting along lines to provide sharp cutting edges.

'A further object is generally to and construction of surgical drill attachments.

The means by which the foregoing and other objects of the present invention are accomplished and the manner of, their accomplishment will be readily understood from thelfollowing specification upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the drill attachment of .the present invention shown attached to a drill hand p e Fig. 2 is an enlarged of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view on the scale of Fig. 2 of the casing of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on a elevational view of the drill bit 7 improve the design a bend 25 therein adjacent the distal end of head 17that is, the end to the left as will be hereinafter termed the main body portion 27 of 23that is, the end to the, right as viewed in will be termed the end portion 29 of the casing.

Patented Mar. 24, 1959 assembled relationship'j therewith and with the drill bit being shown in-elevation.- Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view of thethe scale of Fig. 5 of the drawings, in which the various but spaced from barrel 23. For purposes of clarity, the portion of casing 15 from the casing; and the portion of the' casing from bend 25 to the distal end of barrel Fig. 4'-

Due to bend 25, the longitudinal axis of end portion 29 forms an obtuse angle with the longitudinal axis of main body portion 27, and the bend is of sufficient degree so that the line of sight of a surgeon sighting in a direcs 1' unobstructed.

A bore 33 extends centrally of casing the length thereof. Bore 33 is enlarged to enlarged portion 35 in the interior of head provide an as at 37 whereby the casing is adaptedto be attached to the tapered nose 39 by frictional fit over the nose. It will be understood that other suitable means of attaching casing 15 to the drill hand piece may be provided without departing from the Additionally, portion 43 extending from enlarged portion 35 throughout the remainder of the the distal end of barrel 23 with the diameter of narrowed portion 43 being substantially spirit and scope of the present invention. bore 33 includes a narrowed length of casing 15 to the same throughout. In addition, an annular shoulder 45 is established at the juncture of enlarged portion 35 and narrowed portion 43.

Referring now specifically to drill bit 13, the drill bit comprises an elongated cylindrical shank 47 and an elongated fiexible'rod 49 fixedly attached to shank 47 adjacent one end thereof and extending endwise from adjacent. Q the center of the shank. Shank 47 is provided with a collar 51 preferably integrally formed therewith adjacent the end of the shank to which rod 49 is attached. The

distal end of rod 49-that is, the end remote from shank 47--is provided with a sharpened end portion 53. portion 53 may be formed a number of of the Sharpened end ways without departing from the spirit and scope present invention, but a preferred manner of forming the sharpened end portion is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, wherein 1 upper side of end portion 29, 1' will not be obstructed by main Fig. 1 repreof sight, it will be noted, is V 15 throughout 17, which enlarged portion is tapered towards the inner end thereof of a conventional drill hand piece 41 it will be seen the sharpened end portion includes a plurality of faces 55 inwardly sloping and disposed to form a substantially triangular-shaped point, the faces of which are slightly arcuate, as at 56, adjacent the distal end of sharpened end portion 53. Adjacent pairs of faces 55 respectively intersect along lines to provide sharp cutting edges 57. Drill bit 13 is preferably of metallic construction with flexible rod 49 being attached to shank 47 as by silver solder or the like. Flexible rod 49 is preferably of small diameter, and a flexible rod formed from a stainless steel wire having a diameter of .015 inch has been found to give excellent results. 7

In assembled relationship, drill bit 13 is rotatably received in casing 15 as best shown in Fig. 4, wherein it will be seen the greater part of shank 47 is disposed within enlarged portion 35 with the shank extending beyond the outer end of head 17. Additionally, collar 51 abuts shoulder 45 so that the collar limits movement of drill bit 13 relative to casing 15 to the right as viewed in Fig. 4. In addition, in the assembled disposition of drill bit 13 and casing 15, flexible rod 49 extends through the narrowed portion 43 and outwardly beyond the end of barrel 23 so that the sharpened end portion 53 is exterior of the casing 15 in position for drilling.

In the use of the drill attachment 11 of the present invention, the drill attachment is connected to a suitable drilling means such as the one illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus, casing 15 is attached to nose 39 as heretofore explained and shank 47 is connected to the chuck of hand piece 41, the details of which are not shown since this type of drill is well-known in the art. It is deemed sufiicient to state that the chuck is of the type which is clampable onto shank 47 so that when the shaft of hand piece 41 is rotated by driving means not shown the drill bit 13 is rotated.

The inside diameter of narrowed portion 43 is only slightly greater than the outside diameter of flexible rod 49 so that as the rod is rotated it is caused to maintain the bent disposition best shown in Fig. 4. In addition, this construction prevents eccentric motion of end portion 53 during rotation so that great accuracy in drilling may be accomplished by the surgeon. 7 It should be noted at this point that the wall of barrel 23 is thin so that the part of casing 15 near the sharpened end portion 53 and the work area 31 is not large and there is no visual obstruction. Additionally, it should be noted that the wall of main body portion 27 adjacent bend 25 is relatively thick and greater than the thickness of the wall of barrel 23 to provide a strong rigid area so that the flexible rod 49 will be caused to bend as it rotates. Otherwise, if the wall near bend 25 were too thin, the rod 49 would break through the wall when the rod is rotated.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that a unique drill attachment is provided which permits surgery deep into the inner portions of the ear. It is further apparent that by the use of the flexible rod which is guided to the work area by means of the uniquely constructed casing 15 a minimum of visual obstruction is present so that surgery heretofore impossible may be performed.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications may be made therein which are within the full intended scope of this invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A surgical drill attachment for use with a drill hand piece of the type having a tapered nose and a rotatably driven chuck therein, said drill attachment contiprising a casing, said casing being provided with a bore extending throughout the length of said casing; said casing including a head, an integrally formed elongated neck extending from said head, and an elongated barrel extending from said neck and terminating in a distal end;

said neck having a bend therein, said bend being of a sufiicient degree so that the line of sight along one side of said barrel is unobstructed by said head; said bore being enlarged in said head to provide an enlarged tapered portion therein adapted to fit over said nose for remova'ble frictional attachment thereto and said bore having a narrowed portion in the remainder of said casing; a shoulder being provided in said head at the juncture of said enlarged and narrowed portions; a drill bit including a shank, and a slender flexible rod attached to said shank and extending therefrom; said shank being provided with a collar adjacent said rod, said rod being provided with a sharpened end portion remote from said shank; said drill bit being rotatably received in said bore with said shank being disposed in said enlarged portion of the bore, with said rod being disposed in the narrowed portion of the bore, with said collar abutting said shoulder, and with the sharpened end portion of said rod extending beyond the distal end of said barrel; said shank being adapted to be received in the chuck of said drill hand piece for rotation of the drill bit for drilling in an area in the interior of the ear, said barrel having a thin wall to provide a minimum of obstruction adjacent the drilling area, and said neck having a wall greater in thickness than the wall of said barrel to provide a strong rigid area to cause said rod to bend as it rotates. I

2. A surgical drill attachment according to claim 1 wherein said sharpened end portion of said rod includes a plurality of faces disposed to form a substantially triangular-shaped point, adjacent pairs of said faces respectively intersecting along lines to provide sharp cutting edges.

3. A surgical drill attachment for use with a drill hand piece of the type having a nose and a rotatably driven chuck therein, said drill attachment comprising a casing, said casing being provided with a bore extending throughout the length of said casing; said casing including a head, an integrally formed elongated neck extending from said head, and an elongated barrel extending from said neck and terminating in a distal end; said neck having a bend therein, said bend being of a suflicient degree so that the line of sight along one side of said 'barrel is unobstructed by said head; said bore being enlarged in said head to provide an enlarged portion therein adapted to fit over said nose for removable attachment thereto and said bore having a narrowed portion in the remainder of said casing, a drill bit including a flexible rod having a sharpened end portion, said drill bit being rotatably received in said bore with the sharpened end portion of said rod extending beyond the distal end of said barrel, said drill bit being adapted to be received in the chuck of said drill for rotation of the drill bit for drilling in an area in the interior of the ear, said barrel having a thin wall to provide a minimum of obstruction adjacent the drilling area, and said neck having a wall greater in thickness than the wall of said barrel to provide a strong rigid area to cause said rod to bend as it rotates.

4. A surgical drill attachment for use with a drill hand piece of the type having a nose and a rotatably driven chuck therein, said drill attachment comprising a casing, said casing being provided with a bore extending throughout the length of said casing, said casing being provided with a main body portion and an end portion extending at an angle relative to the main body portion whereby the line of sight of a person sighting along said end portion adjacent one side thereof is unobstructed by said main body portion, said main body portion of said casing being adapted to be removably attached to said nose, a

shoulder being provided in said main body portion; a drill bit including a shank, and a slender flexible rod attached to said shank and extending therefrom; said shank being provided with a collar adjacent said rod, said rod being provided with a sharpened end portion remote from said shank; said drill bit being rotatably received in said bore with said collar abutting said shoulder and with said sharpened end portion of said rod extending beyond the distal end of said casing; said shank being adapted to 'be received in the chuck of said drill for rotation of the drill bit for drilling in an area in the interior of the ear, said end portion having a thin wall adjacent the distal end thereof to provide a minimum of obstruction adjacent the drilling area, and said casing adjacent the juncture of said main body and said end portion having a Wall greater in thickness than the wall adjacent the distal end of said end portion to provide a strong rigid area to cause said rod to bend as it rotates.

5. A drill bit for a surgical drill comprising a shank, an elongated flexible rod attached to said shank adjacent one end thereof and extending therefrom, said shank being provided with a collar adjacent said rod, said rod being provided with a sharpened end portion remote from said shank, said sharpened end portion of said rod including a plurality of faces disposed to form a substantially triangular-shaped point, adjacent pairs of said faces respectively intersecting along lines to provide sharp cutting edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

